Bernice Rossington

[FLICKOFLASH]

[FLICKOFLASH]

[HolyGrail]

Beautiful ! ~

Schallers though ??

[jimi55lp]

And did you notice the extra strap botton on back of the neck mount? It's doesn't look like he's affraid to play it.

[Rick W]

Nice guitar, but I think his is backwards. This is how it should look...

[loaded six string]

It ills me to see cigarette burns on these guitars

[mmcquain]

Here's some more pics of one of the coolest guitars in music history IMO...



Note that Gary is using the rear strap button in the pic below...





And here's the Gibson reissue of her (notice they did NOT include the rear strap button)...



And here is one of the production models (note the incorrect burn mark location - too close to the knobs instead of more centered under the stop bar - the prototype above is a lot closer to the original Bernice)...



Well all know that "Bernice" is named after Gary's mama... but who was "on his way to buy" this guitar
(per a quote from Gary) when Rossington bought it? Rumor is that Charlie Daniels knew about the guitar
and would have probably bought it but Gary and the boys got to her first.

[E.L. Fudge]

I thought the real one had some screws in it at the base of the headstock from a break?

[mmcquain]

Yep, it does. The pics of Gary above are just earlier shots before the break. You can see the screws in Flick's original pics at the start of this thread.

The break happened while the band was at lunch and the guitar was on a stand in the studio. When they came back the guitar was on the floor with broken headstock. The band was so upset they stopped recording for the rest of the day. When they came back the next day, the studio guys had "repaired" the guitar (glue and the 2 screws throught the headstock). The screws are 2 tiny black headed screws to the left/right of the TRC. You can see that Gibson included them in the Rossington reissues (minus the real headstock break).

[E.L. Fudge]

I see them now. Hard to see at first. I also found the info

'Rossington's guitar Bernice was purchased in a bar from a woman whose boyfriend had just left her, leaving behind only his guitar. The new Rossington Les Paul was created to be a duplicate of the guitar, down to the aged "Rossington sunburst" finish and hardware. At one point he broke the headstock and used a pair of small screws to repair it. While the new model replicates the screws, it does not replicate the break.'

[jgalvan8804]

I would love to have a reissue of that guitar. I just cant afford the 12,000 tag now. I saw the original at the Rock and Roll hall of fame last fall. It was pretty cool. I stood there for about 30 minutes and just stared at it. I did the same with Duane Allmans.

[george johnson]

Originally Posted by mmcquain

Note that Gary is using the rear strap button in the pic below...

And the guitar has Grovers in this shot.


Imagine his relief/dismay when he learned that the nut, not the tuners, was responsible for all those tuning issues.

.

[mmcquain]

Good catch on the tuners in that shot. Those must be the originals... wish the picture was in color so you could see if they were gold or not. The rest of the hardward is well worn gold and I've often wondered if the guitar originally came with gold (special order) or was swapped out later (like the tuners were).

[george johnson]

Originally Posted by mmcquain

Those must be the originals...

Methinks the originals were Klusons.

Check out the pic of the back of the headstock in Flick's post...
you'll see the impressions that they made.

[mmcquain]

George- I just enlarged Flick's photo and you may be right based on the original imprint shape and screw holes. So this guitar has had at least 3 sets of tuners on it over the years (Klusons, then Grovers, and lastly the Schallers like the ones Gibson put on the reissues)...

hmmm, makes me think the other gold hardware may not be original... somebody(ies) liked to tinker with this guitar. Seems that the tuner changed at least once under Gary... wonder if he was maybe more of a gearhead than I thought... you know, always searching for "that perfect setup"

[tarddoggy]

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

MAN THATS NICE!!

[dwagar]

what a beautiful guitar. One of my all time favorites.

thanks for posting all the pics.

[Liam]

Nice thread!!!! Another "thank you" for the beautiful photos posted.

[Axeman16]

its really amazng to see in real life.

[E.L. Fudge]

Originally Posted by mmcquain

Good catch on the tuners in that shot. Those must be the originals... wish the picture was in color so you could see if they were gold or not. The rest of the hardward is well worn gold and I've often wondered if the guitar originally came with gold (special order) or was swapped out later (like the tuners were).

From what I've read, the gold hardware was on it when he bought it in '71 for $1800.

[mmcquain]

I'd heard the gold was on it as well when Gary got it... just wondering if the Grovers were on it when he got it (as he must have put the Schallers on since there's pics of both tuners on it once he had it). Maybe who ever put the Grovers on it also did the gold hardware?!?!

[takmagic]

I had a chance to get Rossington #111 a few years ago (it's the guitar in my avatar). Just was a little out of my reach moneywise...I wish I would have stretched a bit further because I'm obviously still hurting yet.

[mojofilter]

MAN that guitar just sends me over the moon!
I must have it,I must have it.I MUST....

[Lefty Elmo]

Originally Posted by Rick W

Nice guitar, but I think his is backwards. This is how it should look...

I agree with you Rick!

[FLICKOFLASH]

nice table but i think they made your guitar backwards

[shotgunlew]

WOW what a beautiful guitar...

[Roman Rist]

Originally Posted by FLICKOFLASH

She has been re-freted once or twice too.